Public Belt Railroad seeks head-hunter to aid search for general manager

Eighteen months after Jim Bridger resigned as general manager of the Public Belt Railroad amid questions over his profligate spending habits, the New Orleans agency is poised to begin looking for an executive head-hunter to aid its search for a permanent replacement. John Morrow, the city-owned railroad's former chief financial officer, has been serving as interim chief since Bridger stepped down under pressure in September 2010.

Jim Bridger

Bridger last year pleaded guilty in federal court to misusing a credit card and in state court to nine charges of theft and one of malfeasance in office. His sentencing is scheduled for mid-April.

Railroad administrators plan to issue a request for proposals sometime early this month for an executive search firm, interim CFO Rachel Zimmerle said.

The latest draft of the solicitation indicates that the board of commissioners wants to consider candidates from across the country. The winning firm, it states, would be hired for a year, with an option of a two-year extension.

In addition to the general manager post, the board may direct the chosen firm to help it fill "position vacancies (that) may occur over the next few years due to resignations and retirements of current executive level management employees," the document states.

The draft solicitation doesn't tiptoe around the matter of Bridger's departure. It notes that the job is vacant "due to the resignation of the former general manager amid investigations into questionable spending practices."

It also doesn't include a timeline for the general manager search. The Public Belt's search comes on the heels of searches for top managers at the Police Department, the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission, the French Market Corp. and the New Orleans Redevelopment Commission.

Since Mayor Mitch Landrieu took office in May 2010, those agencies all have replaced their top directors with candidates favorable to the new administration.

Amid a public outcry over Bridger's performance, Landrieu shortly after taking office cleared the Public Belt's board and appointed the current slate of commissioners.